Hillary Clinton on Tuesday was quick to blast Donald Trump’s call to ban Muslims from entering the United States in New Hampshire, charging the Republican front-runner with “trafficking in prejudice and paranoia.”
But what the her remarks at a town hall in Salem, New Hampshire, also made clear: Trump and his rhetoric are good politics for the Democratic front-runner.
“The Republican front-runner has made a name for himself in the last months by trafficking in prejudice and paranoia,” Clinton said. “This is both a shameless and a dangerous idea. At a time when America should be doing everything we can to lead the fight to defeat ISIS and other radical jihadists, Donald Trump is playing right into their hands.”
Clinton then, however, looked to brand the wider Republican presidential field with Trump’s comments.
“Some of his Republican rivals are saying that his latest comments have gone too far. But the truth is many of them have said extreme things about Muslims. Their language may be more veiled than Trump’s but their ideas aren’t so different,” she said.
Trump released a written statement on Monday calling for the U.S. to refuse entry of foreign Muslims. He has so far defended the proposal, despite widespread criticism from both Democrats and Republicans.
Clinton’s campaign has been particularly vocal about knocking Trump’s rhetoric.
In a Medium post titled, “No, Donald Trump. We’re not barring Muslims from entering the country,” the Democratic front-runner expanded on her attempt to link other 2016 Republicans with Trump.
Clinton knocked Ben Carson for saying a Muslim shouldn’t be elected president, Sen. Marco Rubio for saying he would close down mosques that are radicalizing Muslims and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Ted Cruz for saying only Christian Syrian refugees should be allowed into the United States.
“When you take a step back and see what the Republican field as a whole says about Muslims — not just one or two candidates for president, but nearly all of them — it’s hard to take seriously their attempts to distance themselves from Mr. Trump,” Clinton wrote.
The push was not limited to the candidate, either.
The Clinton campaign also started selling stickers — reading “Love Trumps Hate” — for $1 to supporters and Huma Abedin, the Clinton campaign’s vice chairwoman and a Muslim herself, hit Trump in a fundraising email on Monday night.
“I’m a proud Muslim — but you don’t have to share my faith to share my disgust,” Abedin wrote. “Trump wants to literally write racism into our law books. His Islamophobia doesn’t reflect our nation’s values — it goes far enough to damage our country’s reputation and could even threaten our national security.”